May 04, 2008

Well... it has been a week since I returned from General Conference, and a day or two since the final GC session. I have to admit it was quite an experience. On one hand, being somewhat allergic to the institutional nature of our denomination, there were many elements of General Conference that I found frustrating and discouraging, but on the other hand there were many things about General Conference that I found to be life-giving. In and of itself the notion of Holy Conferencing seems to set a certain hope-giving tone, although at some points I could not tell the difference between the floor of GC and the floor of Congress. There were, however, points in time when pieces of legislation were being debated and voted on that the body would turn intentionally to God, through silence or corporate worship, for wisdom and understanding. While the schedule and pace of GC is draining, I found myself energized by the worship, by the time I spent in Legislative Committees, and during break and meal times when I had a chance to visit with people from all over the world. People who, like me, have a passion for God, a passion for the Church, and in this case a passion for our United Methodist heritage. It was a blessing to be a visitor to this years General Conference... it was a blessing to work alongside the GCCUIC folks... and it was a blessing to travel to GC with Bishop Mutti and our friends and colleagues from Saint Paul School of Theology...

April 27, 2008

Following lunch I found myself with Doug back in the Faith and Order Legislative Committee. This time the Petition at hand was one of extreme intensity...

Remove Exclusionary Language (80019-FO-¶304.3)

Amend ¶304.3 of The Book of Discipline, as follows: While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.

Rationale:

The United Methodist Church acknowledges that all persons are of sacred worth. “Sexuality is God’s good gift to all persons”1. Any prejudice based upon who a person is (his/her very being as a child of God) is incompatible with the teachings of Jesus.

This means that the language does not change...and the exclusive nature of the paragraph remains. In this case a minority report will most likely be filed and this petition will actually go to the main floor for debate. My guess is that this Legislative Committee is fairly representative of the entire floor and the results of a floor vote will be about the same. This process was handled very well by the chair. Following debate we had a minute of silence prior to the casting of the votes. While the votes were being counted we all stood and sang together.

Today, the church I love made a clear choice to stand outside of God's Love and Grace... that's a tad sad for those of us that proclaim that God's love is not selective and is for all of creation...

At the beginning of each day, as we enter the conference center, there are lots of people on hand handing out all kinds of daily, pertinent information. here are a few photos of what that looks like...

Today there have been several sensitivity issues running through my mind...

The first one deals with something that I alluded to earlier. When I first read the petition dealing with the ELCA I naturally assumed that this petition had Global issues for United Methodism, but because this portion of the Lutheran communion has the word 'America' in the title, some of the Central Conference folks made the assumption, and drew attention to the notion that this petition might only have implications for United Methodists in America. I think that it was helpful for our brother from Africa to draw attention to this particular point of clarification.

The second issue deals with the UMC mission statement petition that I pointed to in an earlier post. The petitions are printed in a Book Called the Daily Christian Advocate... there was an advanced version of the DCA printed and we receive updated volumes each day. As it turns out, the Advance version was printed in several languages including French, Spanish,and Portuguese. What we have learned is that some of the translations are not very accurate, in fact the first French version was rejected and had to go through another round of translating. In this instance, as we dealt with the mission statement, we all learned, from one of the translators, that the word make... as in 'make disciples of Jesus Christ' was actually translated 'Create.' As well, we have since learned that there were a number of locations where the word 'not' was left out and was not translated.

A third instance that demanded attention regarding sensitivity came at the beginning of one of the Faith and Order Legislative sessions when a delegate asked for a point privilege to share something that was on his heart. As it turns out, this particular person, who happens to be the leader of his delegation, found himself at a local restaurant, which I won't name here... while at Bennigan's his order was somehow lost and eventually totally disregarded by the wait staff and ultimately this person was never served a meal. The interesting part to me was that it was pointed out to this person, by another member of his delegation, that this mix up with his meal was a deliberate act of intentional racism rather than a simple miscommunication between the wait staff and the kitchen. As a result of this story the entire room of delegates gathered around this person for a prayer and to extend words of comfort... While I am still processing this experience, I am sure of one thing... As Christians, in a global context, I think we are all called to be attentive in some way to issues such as this whether they are what they seem or not...

My final instance is more of an observation than anything else. As it turns out, in each of the 13 Legislative committees you can find, within the gallery of visitors, a number of representatives of COSROW. COSROW is a watch dog group that reports to the General Conference, and to the denomination regarding the inclusivity of persons regarding a variety of isms like racism and sexism. I find it interesting that the COSROW representatives in the Legislative Committees that I have been watching have all been white females. I find that to be an interesting example of inclusivity. I am guessing that COSROW also watches itself and as a whole is represented well across sex, gender, and racial lines...

I bring all of these examples up in order to say that I think, as we navigate this world, we are all called by God to be sensitive to a variety of variables that in some way impact the entire context of our lives together. I am thankful for experiences like this that cause me to think.

My big day on the floor... Today I had the opportunity to check out a floor pass so that I could go down on the floor to take pictures. I suppose in some senses it is like stepping onto Holy Ground, as well, I suppose that in some senses it is not. Any hoo... I enjoyed my time down on the floor with the selected few who are busily about the task of shaping our doctrine and polity. Today was also Jayhawk day for the Kansas East and West delegation. Most everybody played by the rules and wore their shirts. Even Bishop Jones rose up in support and was recognized by the main floor as his challenge was read by the secretary. The challenge was in the form of a bid for a basketball held by one of the other bishops... I can't remeber all of the details...

Today's propaganda handouts fired up an interesting topic. Apparently, the Good News folks have been handing out phones to the Central Conference (United Methodists outside the US) folks. One side of the debate suggests that these phones are simply the extension of hospitality, while the other side is suggesting that these phones are being handed so that the Good News folks (supposedly sponsored by the IRD folks) can send text messages to the Central Conference folks regarding their position on certain pieces of legislation. Obviously the Good News Folks are denying this accusation. I have no idea what is going on here, I just wish somebody would give me a free phone :-)

April 25, 2008

Doug and I concluded the night by monitoring this little piece of legislation...

Mission of the UMC (80271-FO-¶120)

Amend ¶120 to read: The Mission – The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world...

We would further recommend that the editorial staff charged with the preparation of The Book of Discipline work toward consistency according to the above mentioned recommendations wherever the mission of the Church is referred to.

This petition passed by a margin of 48 for and 22 against, but since it has more than 10 votes against it, it will not go on a Consent Calendar but rather, it will come to the floor for open debate... a very long debate I suppose. There was a lot of discussion about who it is, exactly, that does the transforming... God or those making Disciples... Some proposed that adding to the current mission complexifies things, while others think that the objective transformation must be explicit and clearly stated. Personally, I think that the current mission statement is fine, and that transformation of the world is an unavoidable byproduct of Christian Disciple making... which is a whole other issue. In addition, I find it interesting that there is already a banner on the floor containing the words of the proposed change.

Earlier today, I had an opportunity to meet and have have lunch with a few folks from the Yellowstone Conference.This was a good opportunity for me to begin the acclimatization process from the flatlands of Kansas to the mountainous area of Northwestern Montana. Lunch was provided for free by a nearby Christian Church that is hosting daily opportunities to engage a variety of concerns lifted up by the folks who align themselves with the Reconciling Movement and other social justice issues. Each day, the MFSA sponsors speakers during the lunch. During lunch, I was able visit with my New District Superintendent Su DeBree, several lay folks and a previous pastor from the church we are moving to in July.

Tonight was another opportunity for acclimatization... I was invited by Su DeBree to attend the Denver Area dinner which included folks from the Rocky Mountain Conference as well as the Yellowstone Conference. It was my first opportunity to meet Bishop Warner Brown, ironically, on the day that he announced my appointment on the Yellowstone Conference website.